Stephen Covey Passes at 79

Stephen Covey was a mentor and a great inspiration. He will be missed, may he rest in peace.

(CNN) — Author Stephen Covey, whose “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” sold more than 20 million copies, died Monday at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 79.

Covey’s family issued a statement, reported by CNN affiliate KSL, saying he died from residual effects of an April bicycle accident.

“In his final hours, he was surrounded by his loving wife and each one (of) his children and their spouses, just as he always wanted,” the statement said, according to KSL.

Covey was “one of the world’s foremost leadership authorities, organizational experts and thought leaders,” according to a biography posted on the website of his 2011 book, “The 3rd Alternative.”

Other best-sellers by Covey include “First Things First,” “Principle-Centered Leadership,” and “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness,” according to the biography.

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” has been named one of the most influential management books by several organizations, including Time and Forbes magazines. The audio book is the best-selling nonfiction audio in history, according to the website.

Named in 1996 as one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, according to the biography, Covey “made teaching principle-centered living and principle-centered leadership his life’s work.”

Covey and his wife, Sandra, lived in Provo, Utah. He was a father of nine, a grandfather of 52 and a great-grandfather of two, according to the website.

“Stephen frequently referred to them as his greatest joy, inspiration, and most significant contribution and legacy to the world,” Whitman said in the news release.

Among the honors he received, the release said, were the Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative, the Sikh’s International Man of Peace Award, and The National Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Quotes:

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

“I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a “transformer” in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader.”

“Management works in the system; Leadership works on the system.”

“You can’t talk your way out of what you’ve behaved yourself into.”

“There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.”

“The way we see the problem is the problem”

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.”

“Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.”

Stephen Covey Video on Choosing Success

Stephen Covey Passes at 79